Why Mourinho sacking is great news for Sunderland this weekend

Usually, when a manager's sacked, his former players will go all out to impress the new man in charge during their next game.

It's not always the immediate fixture, as the sacked coach's successor isn't always in place.

But, whoever is in charge of Chelsea against Sunderland, the players dare not up their game to another level so soon after Jose Mourinho's departure in front of their home fans.

Indeed, there is already tension among Chelsea supporters - many feel Mourinho should not have been dismissed and that the Portuguese coach was thrown under a bus by his players.

If those players were suddenly to play like the Premier League winners of yesteryear, their performance might not be greeted with cheers by the home crowd - but rather boos, as it will become all-too-clear that they were sandbagging under Mourinho.

That puts Sunderland in a winning position. Their utmost need for points will guarantee a determined display, especially with Sam Allardyce in charge.

Tim Poole

Tim Poole is a sports journalist for HITC with a love of football, tennis and snooker in particular.His career to date has seen him speak to former Manchester United boss David Moyes, interview snooker world champion Mark Selby and be snubbed by Premier League managers and players in more than one language!He is a massive Roger Federer fan and lives by the motto that 'sport is life.' When he's not writing about it, he's playing it, be it football, tennis, basketball, badminton, table tennis, darts, snooker, golf or even water polo. He is better at some than others...